Food Review: Deer + Almond

Deer + Almond

85 Princess St

         

Updated October  2014

There has been a lot of talk about Deer + Almond: The Hipster-Chic décor, the creative combination of flavours, the smaller tapas-style dishes, the flavoured popcorn that comes with every order, have all been reviewed in detail. This sort of publicity is great for a restaurant, especially one that deserves it. However, that means that there isn't much left to be said. Therefore, I will do the best I can to focus on what other people haven’t, and I will start with describing the wine rack.

The wine rack at the Deer + Almond was different than any other wine rack I have seen. It was a series of boards with holes drilled into it and mounted on the wall. If you can imagine mounting a small well –varnished picnic table top on a wall, drilling holes in it, and putting wine bottles in it, you will know exactly what it is like. If you cannot image it, I don’t really blame you.  Why describe the wine rack? It was a busy night and we did not make a reservation. There was only room at the bar (which is filled on a first-come-first serve). Therefore this piece of décor was immediately opposite us, and we spent a lot of time considering it. During one of the four times I have returned to this restaurant there was an art opening happening around the bar, which was fun and gave us something other than the wine rack to look at, but made it very difficult for the servers to get to people seated at the bar.

                
We ordered from the bartender, who was someone I knew I recognized but could not figure out how. Welcome to Winnipeg; this happens to me all the time. Anyway, he was very friendly and patient when we could not decide what to drink. In the end we shared a G + Tea, which was a great modification of a Gin and Tonic. It included an earl grey flavour shot. We would have had more, but more than one $10 cocktail was not in the budget for the evening. On our second visit we ordered a few more cocktails including the mind-blowing Planter's Punch and the Basil Smash, which was a great palette cleanser. They make a good bramble (lemon, mint, creme de cassis, and reposada tequila),  They also have a "mystery beer" which seemed to be a selection of light European beers during one visit, Belgian beers during another, and heavily hopped IPAs on a third occasion. 

While we waited for the food, and mused over the wine rack we also debated whether the fig tree in the centre of the room was real or fake (we never decided), stared at the many antlered art pieces, and observed that it was one of the few restaurants where grey painted walls look good. In general the decor is very well curated.

we ordered:

• Kale and Quinoa (a friend recommended it)
• Soba Noodles

on our second visit we ordered:

• Kale and Kelp Beignets
• Soba Noodles (again)
• Kale Caesar
• Eggplant

on our third visit we ordered:

• watermelon beet & greek
• vodka tempura crudites
• grilled kale caesar
• ricotta malfatti
• manitoba honey ice cream

on our fourth visit we ordered:

• mandel salad!
• stinging nettle linguini
• dons spiced vegetable fritters
• creme caramel

The food came, and the fun began. If you are an adventurous eater the deer + almond is the place for you! The Soba Noodles were something like Pad Thai, only the craziest (and possibly one of the best) Pad Thai inspired things ever! Every layer of the dish seemed to be flavoured completely differently. It was a pleasure to eat. It also reminds me of something that a lot of people have told me, but I have so often ignored: when cooking, food is more interesting if you prepare it is separate parts and combine them at the end. This means the flavours don’t mix, so you get exciting variation during the meal. I don’t do this, because the apartment I live in doesn't have a dishwasher. 

Visit two was equally impressive. The kale and kelp beignets tasted like shrimp puffs (I was assured they didn't) except so much better! The Soba noodles were up to par. The kale caesar was extraordinary. The balance of the dressing and the apples were masterful and the dish was mind-blowing. The eggplant was our least favourite dish, but not because it was poorly prepared. In fact, it was made to mimic the texture of steak. Although I don't know how easy it was to do, from my perspective it was a piece of food mastery. There is nothing worse than undercooked eggplant, but this was not "green" tasting like one would expect. It was just flavourful.

Visit three was up to par and the highlights were the mManitobahoney ice cream, the watermelon beet & greek, and the crudites, but everything was wonderful.

Visit four was also wonderful. The mandel salad is well done and every bight is different from the previous one. The stinging nettle linguine was a bright green and the tomatoes served with it were masterful. The chili oil brought it to the perfect level of spicy.

How does it rank? If you are a picky eater, I would probably rank it very poorly. I think the food is very good, but also complicated. It is the antithesis of the old-time diner, where food is generic. Since we ate here last time we have continued to talk about how good the food was. I would take anyone who doesn't mind googling ingredients (or asking their server what something is). 

Until next time,